Malcolm Lowry facts for kids
Clarence Malcolm Lowry (28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English writer, famous for his novels and poems. He is best known for his 1947 novel Under the Volcano. This book was even voted as one of the top 100 best novels of the 20th century!
Quick facts for kids
Malcolm Lowry
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Lowry in 1946
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| Born | Clarence Malcolm Lowry 28 July 1909 New Brighton, England |
| Died | 26 June 1957 (aged 47) Ripe, England |
| Occupation | Novelist, poet |
| Literary movement | Modernism |
| Notable works |
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| Spouse |
Jan Gabrial
(m. 1934; div. 1937)Margerie Bonner
(m. 1940) |
Contents
Malcolm Lowry's Life Story
Growing Up in England
Malcolm Lowry was born in New Brighton, England, in 1909. He was the fourth son of Evelyn and Arthur Lowry. His father worked as a cotton broker. In 1912, his family moved to a large home with a tennis court and a small golf course. Malcolm felt that his mother didn't pay much attention to him. He was closest to his brother.
When he was a teenager, Lowry went to The Leys School in Cambridge. This school is famous from the novel Goodbye, Mr. Chips. At 15, he won a junior golf championship. His father wanted him to go to Cambridge University and join the family business. But Malcolm wanted to see the world. He convinced his father to let him work as a deckhand on a ship.
In May 1927, his parents said goodbye as he sailed on the S.S. Pyrrhus. He spent five months at sea. These experiences gave him many ideas for his first novel, Ultramarine.
After his sea adventure, Lowry went to St Catharine's College, Cambridge in 1929. He didn't spend much time at the university, but he was very good at writing. He graduated in 1931 with a degree in English. Before university, he had already traveled a lot. He visited America to meet his favorite writer, Conrad Aiken, and also traveled to Germany.
After Cambridge, Lowry lived in London for a short time. He met other writers like Dylan Thomas. He met his first wife, Jan Gabrial, in Spain. They got married in France in 1934. Their marriage was difficult, and they divorced in 1937.
Life in North America
After separating from Jan, Lowry followed her to New York City. In 1936, he stayed at a hospital for a short time. His experiences there later inspired his story Lunar Caustic. He then went to Hollywood and tried writing movie scripts. Around this time, he started writing Under the Volcano. Lowry and Jan moved to Mexico in November 1936, hoping to fix their marriage.
However, their efforts failed, and Jan left him in late 1937. Lowry left Mexico in 1938. His family helped him stay at a hotel in Los Angeles. There, he kept working on his novel and met his second wife, the actress and writer Margerie Bonner.
In August 1939, Lowry moved to Vancouver, Canada. Margerie later joined him, bringing his manuscript. They got married the next year. They first lived in an apartment in the city. When World War II started, Lowry tried to join the army but was not accepted. He wrote articles for a Vancouver newspaper. The couple then lived in a small shack on the beach near Dollarton, North Vancouver.
In 1944, their beach shack burned down, and Lowry was hurt trying to save his writings. Margerie was a very good influence on him. She helped him edit his work and made sure he was healthy. They traveled to Europe, America, and the Caribbean. This was a peaceful and productive time for them. This period lasted until 1954, when they began traveling more again.
Lowry lived in Canada for much of his writing career. Because of this, he is also an important writer in Canadian literature. He won an award called the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction in 1961 for his book Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place, which was published after he died.
Lowry's Passing
Malcolm Lowry died in June 1957. He was living in a rented cottage in the village of Ripe, England, with his wife Margerie. He had returned to England in 1955.
Lowry is buried in the churchyard of St John the Baptist in Ripe. It is said that Lowry wrote his own funny epitaph: "Here lies Malcolm Lowry, late of the Bowery, whose prose was flowery, and often glowery. He lived nightly, and drank daily, and died playing the ukulele." However, this epitaph is not on his gravestone.
His Lasting Impact
In 2017, the British Library bought many of Malcolm Lowry's papers from his first wife, Jan Gabrial. These papers included his writings and Jan's personal notes about their marriage. More items were also bought from Margerie Bonner Lowry's sister. This collection helps us learn more about Lowry's life and work.
Malcolm Lowry's Books
Lowry didn't publish many books during his lifetime. But he left behind a large collection of unfinished writings. His novel Under the Volcano (1947) is seen as his best work. It is considered one of the greatest books of the 20th century.
His first novel, Ultramarine (1933), was written when he was still in college. It tells the story of a young man's first trip on a ship and how he tries to fit in with the crew.
After Lowry's death, a collection of his short stories called Hear Us, O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place was published in 1961. A book of his poems, Selected Poems of Malcolm Lowry, came out in 1962. His novella Lunar Caustic (1968) was also published later. This story was based on his time in a hospital. Lowry's wife and others also finished and published two more of his novels, Dark as the Grave Wherein my Friend Is Laid (1968) and October Ferry to Gabriola (1970).
His letters were also published, giving readers a look into his thoughts and life. A documentary film called Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry was made in 1976. It tells his life story and includes parts of his novel read by actor Richard Burton.
In 2001, Lowry's first wife, Jan Gabrial, said she had an early copy of his novel In Ballast to the White Sea. This book was thought to be lost. Lowry had given a copy to Jan's mother before he went to Mexico in 1936. His own working copy was later lost in a fire. In 2014, this lost novel was finally published for the first time.
The Voyage That Never Ends
Lowry had a big idea for all his writings. He wanted them to be part of one huge story cycle he called The Voyage That Never Ends. He imagined Under the Volcano as the most important part of this cycle. He spent much of his life trying to connect all his novels and stories into one big, themed work. He wanted it to be as grand as other famous writers' epic works.
His plans for The Voyage That Never Ends grew into a 34-page outline. But Lowry died before he could finish this huge project. Because so much of it was left unfinished, we can only guess what his final masterpiece would have looked like.
Lowry's Published Works
- Ultramarine (1933), a novel
- Under the Volcano (1947), a novel; later made into a film in 1984
Books Published After His Death
- Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place (1961), a collection of short stories
- Selected Poems of Malcolm Lowry (1962)
- Lunar Caustic (1963), a novella (first in French)
- Lunar Caustic (1968), a novella (English edition)
- Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend Is Laid (1968), a novel
- October Ferry to Gabriola (1970), a novel
- The Cinema of Malcolm Lowry: A Scholarly Edition of Malcolm Lowry's "Tender is the Night" (1990)
- The 1940 Under The Volcano (1994), an earlier version of the novel
- La Mordida (1996), a novel
- In Ballast to the White Sea (2014), a novel
- Selected Poems of Malcolm Lowry (2017)
See also
In Spanish: Malcolm Lowry para niños
